The thinking behind this blog is really simple: The guilty should be prevented from reoffending and the innocent should not be convicted -- not very complex but often not achieved.

The spotlight is also thrown on feral law enforcement

Saturday, July 18, 2015

UK: Brothers-in-law Tasered and pepper-sprayed by cops during a stag do win a payout from police

CCTV catches lying thug cops

Two men who were Tasered by police during a bizarre incident on a stag do have won a five-figure payout in compensation. Darren Corbridge and John Naylor, who are brothers-in-law, secured the payment after being wrongly arrested and convicted of assaulting an officer.

The pair were pepper sprayed and Tasered by police in Weymouth, Dorset in August 2010 while on a stag do for Stewart Roberts, who was marrying Mr Corbridge's sister Ellie.

At the time they were trying to help Mr Roberts get home in the early hours of the morning while he was dressed in a 6ft penis costume.

But after a taxi driver refused to take the groom as a passenger, police accused the two men of becoming aggressive and arrested them.

Mr Corbridge, a company director, and car mechanic Mr Naylor were subsequently convicted of assaulting a police officer, while Mr Naylor was also convicted of resisting arrest.

The men were each sentenced to wear an electronic tag, but they appealed against the convictions at Bournemouth Crown Court and were cleared in 2012 after a judge saw CCTV footage of the incident.

Now Dorset Police has agreed to pay an undisclosed five-figure sum of compensation, as well as £90,000 worth of legal costs.

Lawyer Sophie Khan of Sophie Khan & Co, who represented the two men, said: 'The claim by Mr Corbridge and Mr Naylor followed a serious incident in Weymouth town centre where the use of force on them was so excessive it had to be challenged.

'Dorset police have accepted their officers were wrong as they have settled the claims. I hope Dorset Police can learn from this and that it doesn't happen to anyone else.'

A spokesman for the police force said: 'We can confirm an out-of-court settlement has been reached with no admittance of liability. 'It is not our practice to comment on the settlement amount.'

At the time his conviction was overturned, Mr Corbridge said: 'I felt disgusted at how we were treated, it was like we were animals and I couldn't believe it had happened after asking for help.

'Whilst I was being Tasered I thought I was going to die, it was the most frightening experience I have had in my life and I will never trust the police again.'

(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts HERE or HERE or here

No comments:

Dedication

In memory of Fatty Arbuckle, a good and innocent man whose movie career as a comedian was ruined by an opportunistic prosecution. The woman he was accused of murdering almost certainly died of natural causes. He was eventually cleared but the damage was done.

A thought

I love the Mae West story where some judge wearing a robe during the middle of the day, and seated in a high chair peered down and asked her, 'Are you showing contempt for my court?' To which she replied, 'I’m doing my best not to show it, your honor.' Maybe we need to give up trying to not show it."